"This child is an abnormality."
The familiar thrusted the tip of his katana at Klara's solar plexus. The blade bent to the right, destroying its purpose. If it had a layer of skin on its face, it would have sneered in frustration. It threw away the blade.
Currently, all seven familiars including the abnormality were falling through the depths of an unfinished spiral chasm. The familiar couldn't help but feel a tinge of irritation--a new feeling--whenever she would shout 'Fly, for fuck's sake, fly!' as she hurled down the concrete gulf. Her request, however, was to no avail.
They crashed down on the roof of a concrete construct at blinding speeds, breaking through the ceiling and landing with a harsh crack from the fall on the cement floor.
A cloud of dust enveloped them. The familiars easily saw through it all, but Klara coughed up and swayed her hands side by side at her face to get the dust off her.
Taking the opportunity, three of the Familiars abruptly vibrated and merged as one--now there were four left. The merged Familiar zoomed in front of Klara, recoiled a fist, and willed every processor within its general conveyor system to amp the impact and strike her gut, shooting the air out of her lungs, and knocking her off her feet.
Still, no visible damage.
Klara retaliated, stumbling back momentarily, recoiling her fist in a blink and striking the Familiar on the gut, her knuckles sinking into the metal exterior--her first official jab that left a mark.
The attack sent the Familiar reeling back at undeniable speeds, colliding with the concrete walls seventeen times like a ping-pong ball and shattering it into metal and electrical wiring shards. The remaining four paused, stunned at how one of its own was taken down with a single strike.
"HAH!" The dust cloud leveled, revealing Klara pumping her fist up with a toothy grin on her lips. "Holy--...Holy shit I-...I just killed one of you! HAH! I actually...!" Her voice cracked--mustering it with a stance to cover it up. "You're all bark and little to no fucking bite. You're all weak as hell!"
Adrenaline pumped through her veins like lightning, she was shaking--out of pure ecstasy. This was the thrill. This was the thrill she'd been seeking. But still, she never forgot her purpose: Dante.
...
A pipe on the wall popped, whistling heaps of chemicals directly in between the remaining Familiars and Klara.
The air between them thickened.
Thirty seconds passed by, and no one lifted a finger.
A minute.
Two minutes.
Three.
...
A familiar's head lay low, its peripheral wiring calculating and predicting outcomes if it ever decided to continue this battle.
And as of late, with Klara's full capabilities having yet to unveil--how none of its attacks garnered any significant injury--it eventually concluded that its odds were not in its favor.
All in a nanosecond.
"What a pain."
In a swift motion, the Familiar behind the three others grabbed the hilt of its firearm, lifted it, aimed--not at Klara, and shot at the chemical cloud all in a fraction of a second.
Klara yelled and to her dismay, she saw light.
Lumps of orange enveloped her figure followed by the deafening rumble of thunder and crackling instantaneously. She felt herself fly down the opposite direction of the hallway, crashing and rolling to a halt along with the familiar ringing in her ears she would hear in the movies when struck by a flashbang.
She coughed, getting up on her feet instantly, a huff escaped her lips. "I did NOT feel that for some reason--but whatever..." She patted her arms and pants as the smoke and ash cleared.
...
"Bastards, leaving me alone..." she growled, faced with a now empty hallway with the lights above fluctuating and a black imprint of the explosion on the floor. She had her head held down, gazing at her palm. Her mind flashed images of Dante like a paparazzi would. "...Knowing that goody-two-shoes...he's not dead yet when it comes to being all safe and all that...shit..." Her voice cracked, a drop running down her cheek. "God...damn it Dante..."
Her eyes widened. She was crying?
She mewled. "Where...where the fuck are you Dante...?
Then a faint rev of an engine on her right resounded, growling and rumbling to signify its existence. Followed by the horrifying screech--as if it were a mixture of metallic pipes clashing against each other along with the screams of the damned.
She grinned, unintentionally mumbling, wiping away a tear. "There you are."
She fell on one knee--a sprinter's stance, just in the direction where she heard the rumbling, braced herself, and started running.
----
"Took your metallic ass long enough," said the Man in chrome black armor, hefting his great axe on his shoulder. He examined the AI before him, knelt on a knee before him, battered and coated in grime and ash. "The girl. Where?"
The latter merely stood in place, tilting its head the other way to avoid eye contact. "No."
The man frowned. "No?"
"She's alive."
The man let his axe slam on the concrete floor--an audible clang echoed. "How?" He expressed, his brows furrowing as his anger seethed. "She's just a girl."
"I beg to differ."
For once, The Man saw something he never thought he would ever bear witness to in his companion's mechanical eyes. Uncertainty. It was doubtful. Never was it this uncertain ever since it was manufactured. It was always accurate, precise, correct, and on point.
But this time, ever since it was manufactured, it was not sure.
"..." A low rumble echoed in his throat, grabbing the edge of his oversized double-edged axe and lifting it onto his shoulder again. "We'll get going."
Both of them then stalked into an old, rusty Railroad car. It was old enough to bypass today's technology and compatible enough to use the track of the abandoned underground facility.
Looking on its right were seventeen other Railroad cars of the same condition. Its contents were women and children. Turning to the left was another set of Railroad cars, the rest shrouded in the dark.
...
Once they all stepped foot, the train howled--a piercing screech similar to the screams of the damned. Its wheels ground on the metal track--orange sparks lit as it sped away.
In a minute, the train crossed a kilometer and a half, leaving a silent bellow in its wake.
"An alien?" The man in all Chrome armor reiterated, leaning on the couch with his axe head on the floor and the handle inclined at the corner wall. He frowned before an audible rumble reverbed in his throat "I don't even know how to respond to that."
"I think your bot got done goofed up," a man said, situated at the bar section of the Rail Road car. "Coo coo in the head." He wore a grey jumpsuit with a blue apron. Obvious blood splatters decorated at the apron. "Maybe we should just scrap him up. The product didn't fit its description. You know, a defect?"
"No, Brian. We are not doing that--..." The man in Black chrome armor noticed his apron, eyes scanning him from top to bottom. He scoffed. "Ignoring that, why didn't you change?"
Brian nabbed a random beer displayed on the shelf behind him, popped it open, and took a swig. "I did."
"Huh? What? You didn't."
"Not the apron."
"Why?"
Plopping the beer bottle on the counter, Brian slowly turned his head to the Man in black chrome. He exhaled before sputtering utter nonsense. "You know, my father always told me to never listen to cunts that do shit on the whim. He said you can never trust those kinds of people because--" He toned his voice into a mock whisper. "...--cuz, 'apparently', they never valued a relationship. Ever. It's always those people that stab ya in the back. Stabity stab and all." He took another swig, burping. "He said that while screwing me mum. I was twelve." He cleared his throat, a violent horse cough gurgled from his gullet. "Hard times, hard times."
"..."
The silence was deafening. Only the wailing of the train zooming past tunnels rolled through the tense air between the two men.
"I dunno why he said that," he took another sip, essentially chugging down the contents of the beer. "I dunno why I remembered that either. Maybe because the view was horrible, or maybe cuz I was beaten 'till I was half-dead and barely walkin' that time," He scratched his nose using his index and sniffed. His eyes dull and empty as he recalled the event with clear certainty. "My mum killed him after that. Bit his willy off mid-blow."
"..."
Brian burped again, wheezing. "Then I killed her after."
The howling of the engine's train bellowed momentarily, resounding the Railroad car.
Khlye was in mild disbelief by his comrade's random open up."What does this have to do with you changing your clothes? This isn't a therapy session."
"My point, Khyle--what a stupid name by the way--is that-"
"Stop. Nevermind. I don't want to know what's happening in that head. Shut. Up." He switched his attention to the AI who stood still, arms crossed and head down, seemingly lost in thought. "You. Why did you think she was an alien? The girl."
Sat on the couch on the far left of the rail car, the AI lifted its head. "I couldn't do anything. Everything did nothing." Its gears clicked, as it continued to speak. "I've scanned her multiple times. She had zero augmentations. No modifications. Neither did she possess nano chips. I suspected initially that her bone structure must've been different if that is the case--and it's true. Her bone density is seven hundred fifty-five times the average. She is not normal. That is not a girl. She is unique. If we could put her down somehow I would like to study her. But as of late with my current observations, even condensed heat bullet rays barely lay a dent."
Khyle leaned forward, slouching. His elbows rested on his knees with his hands clasped in front of his mouth. The thing was serious. It was programmed to tell the truth. And the truth it told. No matter how utterly illogical or stupid it sounded. But he still had second thoughts. "Hm."
"I have evidence if you want me to present them."
Brian burst laughing. "What happened to your 'precise' and 'accurate' measurements, hmm?" He was drunk from his slurred response. "All that gone cuz you couldn't land a hit on a busty high school chick." He threw the bottle at the window, a sharp crackle signifying its crash. "Alien my ass. What a lame excuse. You just can't kill a girl."
Khlye groaned. "Wait, let's think." He held his head hanging low and sighed, his response was forced and irritated. "You've been correct with the math so far with everything we did. And you were right with every measurement and prediction. I bought you at a high price. " He said, to the AI, crossing a leg over the other and facing it. " So why should I believe in you this time? It doesn't make any sense."
The hardened calm and robotic tone combined to create an eerie, grumbling response from the A.I. "It doesn't."
The train shook violently, as if a boulder collapsed on the cart, causing tremors on the ceiling of the cart. The lights above began to flicker momentarily before they regained power. Steam hissed from the outside, the metal wheels spitting orange while it maintained its course.
"Did we fucking hit something? The hell was that?" Brian remarked, his hands clutched on the counter, bracing for the next impact that never came.
Khyle stood and peeked into the windows. Nothing. A thin straight blur of dim lights faintly lit the already rusting tunnel. "Bot," he said, not even batting an eye at the A.I. "Check."
Without further question, the Droid rose from its seat and exited the cart in a beat. The sliding door quickly closed, signifying the droid's departure.
"Think he'll be enough?" Brian mentioned. His form now resting forward on the counter.
"It's much more efficient than you. So, make a guess," Khyle retorted, sitting back down on his seat, an obvious tone of hostility present, adjusting a shoulder pad in its right place.
"Very funny." The former scoffed. "Don't be a dick. Your ass is dependent on a droid's calc's in every fucking detail."
"It's efficient."
"Makes you look like a pussy."
Both men glared at each other, the tension rising between them, their eyes pierced each other. One had his hands gripped tight and solid on the counter, while the latter had his arms crossed, his hostile expression unchanged.
Abruptly, another tremor rocked the train, causing both men to stumble forward and back.
"Alright, what the fuck. I'm getting up there," Brian growled, grabbing the sledgehammer he kept on the floor, stained with dried blood and tinted with a bright orange thick layer of rust as he would call it: 'extra poisonous.'
Khyle didn't follow, staying behind, his foot tapping on the floor out of annoyance. He only mumbled how he didn't need another companion except that droid.
***
Klara had her fingers sunk into a sheet of rusty metal--screeching a horrid tune as the strong pressured winds blew her back a bit. She was prone and clinging, clutching as the train took sharp turns at speeds she had yet to master.
"Alright," she started, lifting a knee to balance herself. "This is so stupid. So so so dumb." The tunnel's ceiling above her lowered by an inch or three, quickly making her prone once more out of pure instinct, missing it. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuuck...! Dante would be yelling at me when he sees the shit I'm doing to save his ass."
The train howled, a screech that bellowed throughout the tunnel. The blare lasted, getting progressively louder by the second. Klara's eardrums felt like popping, throbbing painfully as she withstood the pressure. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, her entire body stuck onto the roof of the train cart. For what felt like an eternity only lasted a few seconds before...
...silence.
The unbearable cry of metal cut into a quiet, whispering blow of a fresh breeze. The fragrance of soil mixed with rock clogged her nose.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Gasping, she finally stood, slowly from her spot to take in the view outside. From where she was, the massive superstructure of the City she lived in, looked like it could fit in the palm of her hand amidst a rocky flat land with little to no trees in sight. She asked herself: How far am I?
Bright neon colors danced as rays of light protruded through the cloudy sky. For a moment, she was in awe. The City she would usually get lost in no matter how many times she passed by, the absolute technological labyrinth, seemed so glorious even from a great distance.
Her view was cut short--her head abruptly jerked from the impact of a blurred image on her left that she was unable to make out, the force causing her to stumble nearly on the edge but quickly regain her composure. She hissed, glaring at the man who struck her unannounced.
"What the fuck dude?" She attempted a stance, her form wobbley due to the train taking turns and blasting at high speeds.. "You're dead."
"That damn droid was right, huh?" A snarky, hoarse, and guttural voice came from him. Instantly, she hated him. He lifted his enhanced sledgehammer on his shoulder. "Ohhh, you're a pretty, AND feisty one too, aye?"
"Shut up."
"Oooh, a brat too? You're mine."
A vein throbbed on her temples, a fixed glare on her face. She combed her hair, composing herself amidst the strong winds breezing past her. Once the train traveled in a straight line, her stance fixed, she asked. "Where is he?"
"Who we talkin' bout here? Lil ol' me down here or--"
"Dante. Where?"
"Don't know. Don't care. Maybe dead back there, dunno either way."
Klara ground her teeth--her glare hardening as she made the first move. She took a heavy step forward, her foot sinking on the train's rusty roof like cake to a candle and in a beat, her fist was under his chin to serve as a nasty uppercut.
A loud clang resounded, confusing the girl who thought she would've heard a crunch instead.
"Fast too," he said, failing to sound soothing. He took a few steps back and stared at his sledgehammer, the entire bar of the handle had a massive bend--in the direction where Klara was supposed to hit him. He brandished the weapon, cackling before clicking a button at the head of the sledgehammer--forming it back to its original shape.
Klara sneered, breaking her stance and mustering a casual position to survey his face. Her dirty blond hair waved violently against the harsh winds. "Huh."
The former grinned, his arms raised high as if to present himself. "See somethin' you like hunny bunny?"
She tapped her foot twice, her index on her chin humming, her brows raised as if impressed. "Wow."
"Yeah?" He replied with a playful scoff.
"I've never seen anything like it."
He was feeling himself. "Oh, I know honey boo."
She giggled, hefting her hands on her hips to release a dreamy sigh. "I've never seen anyone so fucking ugly in my entire seventeen years of existence--you do know I'm a minor, right?"
Now face-to-face, they seem to be at the same height.
He chuckled. A roughly, gnarly snicker escaped his lips. "So?"
As a response, a fist connected to his jaw, a hard, nasty haymaker--too heavy for her stature. A notable crack resounded. He stumbled on the roof of the train, clasping on his jaw, screaming--frantic and enraged, cursing at her with muffled resentment, mewling promises that he would never keep until a soft pop followed.
The rough winds carried his detached jaw with it. Streams of blood spewing and spurting--vaporized by the strong breeze as he wailed his lungs out.
Klara's face scrunched, sneering at the way his lower mouth popped from its socket. "Ooooh, shit."
Since he was too busy moaning and groaning, Klara didn't necessarily feel like inflicting any more damage on him--disturbed by her sheer power. She knelt by a knee and struck a hole on the roof of the train, grabbed on the sheet of metal and pulled as if it were paper. A terrible symphony screeched as she did so in the process, leaving a hole her size.
She took a look at the man one last time, feeling nothing for him before hastily slipping into the cavity she made with one goal in mind: Find Dante.